"You’re much more Onnie. This isn’t a library, libraries are meant to be shared. This, this is a collection and you are its Keeper.” -Gabriel

﻿﻿Syno﻿psis﻿﻿﻿

Onnie enjoyed her quiet life of solitude with her nose in her books. When her Grandfather calls and asks her to move to Seattle to help him run his bookshop, she can’t refuse the offer of a new adventure. She never expected what she would find in that sleepy little town. Gabriel is a local teacher and friend of her Grandfather and when they meet at the bookshop Onnie is thrown into a world she had never imagined. Nothing is what it seems, magic exists and Onnie must leave her old life behind in order to survive. Her only hope is to learn to lean on those around her and to open her heart up to the impossible. But there is evil in the world and life is seldom as simple or straight forward as she’d like. Together the two of them must fight through the heartache to overcome the odds and protect what Onnie has come to love.

﻿Reviews﻿

"Onnie's journey is filled with magic with a mix of romance between intervals of her personal growth. Keeper's Connundrum is a great story about stepping up to one's moral obligation to fulfil their destiny. The reader will never look at bookshops the same again."

﻿Prologue﻿

The sun rose across the water as a young woman sat atop a stone retaining wall watching the tides change. Today was the first day of her new life. She was packed, her car filled with only the belongings she couldn't live without, the rest she’d purged. It was time for her to leave sunny Los Angeles for good; Washington awaited.

She picked up a handful of sand and watched it run through her fingers like grains through an hourglass. When her hand was empty, she brushed them on her navy leggings. Her toes sunk further into the sand as she wiggled them. Even at five in the morning, the grains were still warm. She would most definitely miss the heat of L.A., but she needed this change. Just two weeks ago, her grandfather called and asked her to move to the tiny town of Alku. It was an old community just outside of Seattle, and she couldn't pass up the opportunity, she would learn to love the rain just like she loved the heat. Her grandfather owned and ran a bookshop, but he was getting older and needed help. All her life, her mother told her stories of her father’s shop. The endless rows of leather-bound classics, the hand painted religious texts and nearly every paperback novel in history. To a child, it must have felt magical. There had been little hesitation, she had told him yes right then, quit her job and called her mom to gush over the good news. Supportive cheering, a bottle of wine, and the next three hours had them both daydreaming of the upcoming adventure.

Her mom had retold her stories of moving to California as a young child and missing the cozy playground between the stacks of books. The way she spoke gave the store the feeling of being human, a part of the family. She had not gone back to Washington or the bookshop even though she had always said she wanted to. "The bookshop is a magical place, you'll love it, you remind me a lot of it actually."

She wiggled her toes once more, pulling them to the surface before she stood, stretched, and picked up the battered book laying on her jacket beside her. She affectionately stroked the torn cover, following the contours of the images of a little girl, white rabbit, and a pocket watch. It was going to be a long drive, so she rubbed her neck and looked up at the sky, "We’re off on a new adventure Alice, who knows what we’ll find when we get there.” A few cloud wisps passed overhead, and she watched them with a yawn, slipping her feet back into her sandals and smoothing her black tunic. From the depths of her bag, her cell phone started to ring. Without thinking, she reached into the pocket and pulled out her cell phone, sliding the unlock icon and answering it in one quick motion.

"Hi, Mom. Yeah, I'm awake, just walking to my car now and ready to head out. You have time to chat while I drive?" With one last look towards the water, she slipped her bag over her shoulder and walked to the Jetta parked along the cliff overlooking the sea.